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Friday, September 12, 2008

Rumors have been circulating for days about the impending bankruptcy of the UK's third largest tour operator, XL Leisure Group. Now it's official, according to a notice just posted on the XL.com website, and XL Airways UK, a unit of XL Leisure Group, has ceased flying due to the financial collapse of its parent.

The announcement says, in part:

On 12 September 2008, Alastair Beveridge, Nick Cropper, Simon Appell and Stuart Mackellar were appointed as Joint Administrators of the Companies by the Court.

The Companies entered into Administration having suffered as a result of volatile fuel prices, the economic downturn, and were unable to obtain further funding.

The Joint Administrators cannot continue trading the business and therefore all flights operated by the Companies have been immediately cancelled and the aircraft grounded. Going forward, the Joint Administrators are unlikely to be able to trade the business or operate the aircraft.

News media in the UK report that XL Leisure Group employs about 2,500 people. It is unclear exactly how many of those work for XL Airways UK. The airline has hubs at London Gatwick, Manchester, and Glasgow.

XL Airways France and XL Airways Germany are said to be unaffected at this time.